Acclaimed Mexican journalist speaks on new narco-culture

The ongoing issue of drug trafficking in Mexico, which has produced increasing violence and a durable imprint on the culture, will be the point of discussion during the lecture “The New Narco-Culture” by award-winning journalist Alma Guillermoprieto, at Loyola University New Orleans.

The event takes place Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m., in Nunemaker Auditorium, located in Monroe Hall, and is free and open to the public.

“Alma Guillermoprieto brings to Loyola a unique perspective on a complex and yet not very well known aspect of drug trafficking: its connections with popular culture,” said Uriel Quesada, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of Loyola’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. “Amidst increasing U.S. concern over the wave of drug violence, Guillermoprieto’s talk offers the New Orleans and Loyola communities a great opportunity to reflect on how drug trafficking has become an intrinsic component of everyday life.”

Originally from Mexico, Guillermoprieto has lived in the U.S., Colombia and Brazil. She has written about Latin America for numerous publications, most frequently as a Latin American correspondent for The New Yorker, for more than 25 years. She also was a former South America bureau chief for Newsweek magazine.

She is the author of “Looking for History,” “The Heart That Bleeds” and “Samba,” a book that details her experience with impoverished carnival-makers in Rio de Janeiro. Guillermoprieto has received a number of fellowships, among them a 1995 MacArthur Fellowship, a.k.a. the Genius Award, and a 2005 Nieman Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was named as one of the world’s top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy Magazine.

“The New Narco-Culture” is sponsored by Loyola’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Department of English and Loyola’s Study Abroad Program.

For more information, contact Sean Snyder in Loyola’s Office of Public Affairs at smsnyder@loyno.edu or call 504-861-5882.